“How much time do you have?” Henry said in lieu of “hello” as I met him at reception on Thursday. I was keeping up my end of the bargain and meeting him for lunch.
“Why?” I eyed him warily. Today he was dressed casually—instead of a suit, he wore a black, thin cashmere sweater with the sleeves pushed up his forearms, and slim-leg black trousers.
“Because I secured the afternoon off so I could spend it with you. Very difficult thing to do. You should feel honored.”
“And what if I didn’t have time to give you the entire afternoon?”
“Do you?”
“Maybe, but if I didn’t…?”
He grinned. “I’d convince you that what I have planned is better than whatever you have planned.”
“What if what I have planned is sex with an exotic stranger?”
We stepped into the elevator and Henry pressed his hands to his chest dramatically. “Oh how she wounds me.”
I laughed at his antics. “Okay. So what did you want to do?”
“Well…” he drew it out, waiting until we stepped out of the elevator, “if I recall, you told me on Tuesday that you hadn’t toured Boston since coming to live here. Correct?”
“Correct.”
Henry reached inside the back pocket of his trousers and produced two tickets. “Hop On, Hop Off, Red.”
It was difficult for me to admit, but the man was continually surprising me. “A bus tour?”
“Not just any bus tour. You pay practically nothing for the whole day and you get off and on at whichever stops you want. It’s genius.”
I snorted. “I would’ve thought you’d want to tour in style. You seem the type.”
“That’s your problem.” He tapped my nose playfully. “You see me all wrong.”
“Hmm,” I said, letting him know I wasn’t convinced by his sincerity. “I’ll need to change into something more comfortable.”
“We can stop off at your apartment.”
“If we’re doing that, we might as well have sex and be done with this.”
He wrinkled his nose, seeming to consider it, and then he shook his head. “Nah. I like my plan.”
“You’re seriously giving up the chance at sex for a bus tour?”
“Yes.” He put his hand on my lower back and led me around to the passenger side of his car. That innocent touch made my blood heat.
Why wasn’t it affecting him as much, dammit?
I glowered at him and he gave a bark of laughter as he got in the car. “I have had women pissed at me for fucking them and not calling them again. Never have I had a woman pissed at me for refusing to do just that.”
“I’m smarter than most women.”
Henry threw his head back in laughter. The gorgeous sound trickled away in the wind as we moved into traffic and I shook off the uneasy feeling that I was starting to like Henry Lexington.
And wasn’t it a clusterfuck to like a man but not trust him.
* * *
“You had fun, right?” Henry’s eyes were filled with laughter.
We were currently sitting in Carrie Nation where I’d ordered the biggest burger along with the biggest cocktail. It wasn’t the first time I’d been there. A date once brought me here and we sat in the intimate speakeasy section. Very nice atmosphere for a first date. If your date didn’t spend the entire night talking to your breasts.
Thankfully, Henry was being a gentleman and he wasn’t looking at my breasts, even though my shirt was soaked.
As was every inch of me.
I’d tried to dry as much of myself as I could under the hand dryer in the bathroom. I should’ve insisted on going home but Henry thought it was hilarious that we’d been doused in an unexpected rain shower after visiting the Old South Meeting House.
The cocktail bar and restaurant was a few minutes away. I hadn’t known where we were going when Henry grabbed my hand and started running.
The waiter had laughed at us when we came through the doors.
Henry was fine. Wet shirt and hair and somehow he looked more lickable than normal.
I looked like a drowned cat.
“Super fun.” He laughed at my deadpan tone. “Up until the rain, I mean.”
Actually it had been fun. I thought Henry would get bored half an hour into it, but he seemed to enjoy the tourist thing as much as I did.
“You knew all the stuff we learned already, though, right?”
He shrugged. “It’s good to get a refresher. Especially in such lovely company.”
“You never stop.”
“Nope.” He eyed my burger. “Are you going to eat that?”
The truth was I never ordered a burger on a date. It was too hard to eat and look elegant at the same time. But in the moment it had sounded like a good idea. Now that my makeup was almost all off, my hair was limp and dripping, and my shirt was a wrinkled mess, I didn’t think it was a good idea to add wolf-eating to the image I was creating.
My stomach grumbled.
Henry rolled his eyes. “I heard that. Eat.” He lifted up his burger and bit into with no qualms.
Ah, screw it.
I bit off a chunk and closed my eyes in bliss.
“Good?”
I opened one eye and nodded.
Laughter danced in his eyes as it seemed to a lot when he was around me.
“I need to go to the gym,” I said glumly after I swallowed. “I hate the gym.”
“Then don’t go.”
“No, I need to. So I can eat like this.”
“Thank God you eat.” His eyes dropped to my breasts for a second and he shifted in his seat. Was it just me or were his cheeks a little flushed?
“Like what you see, huh?” I teased.
Henry’s eyes smoldered so abruptly, my breath caught. “Sunshine, you have no idea how much. I doubt there’s a man alive who wouldn’t like all that.” He gestured to me.
I laughed. “You’d be surprised.”
“Gay men.”
“And straight men.”
His outraged disbelief was extremely flattering. “Blind men.”
“No.” I shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong. I get plenty of attention from men who have a thing for Christina Hendricks… but it has been suggested to me in the past to cut out the burgers and pick up a salad.”
“I hope you told the assholes to fuck off.”
Annoyed at the flicker of tenderness I felt at his defense of me, I looked away, pretending to check out the people around us. “I may have even told one of them that if he wasn’t into curves, he might prefer fucking himself. And that he should go do that. Immediately.”
His chuckle caused a little flutter in my belly and I closed my eyes, trying to shut him out. My attraction toward him was too much for my liking.
“I like you, Nadia.”
My gaze flew back to his in surprise. I struggled for a reply, scared to reciprocate, terrified that he was trying to suggest we nix the one-time-only deal. Eventually, I smiled and replied lightly, “I’m likable.”
If he was disappointed by my reply, he didn’t show it. Instead he stole a fry from my plate when he had plenty of his own.
“That was mean.”
He grinned boyishly. “You don’t like to share?”
“Not my fries when you’ve got your own. You’ve not got enough in life without having to steal my fries?”
For some reason he took my teasing question more seriously than I’d meant him to. “Do you think I’m just a rich asshole, Nadia?”
How to answer that?
The truth was I wasn’t sure about anything when it came to Henry Lexington. Yes, he’d been an asshole to me so that would make him a rich asshole. But he was this other guy too. A funny, flirtatious, witty, thoughtful guy.
He could be the hero and the villain. Which one of those was the permanent resident and the other the visitor, I didn’t know.
“I don’t know who you are,” I answered honestly. “And you don’t know who I really am. But as agreed, we’re not really sticking around to find out.” To break the sudden heavy tension, I smiled flirtatiously. “But come Saturday night, you’ll hopefully know something about me very few men know.”
“Oh?”
I leaned over the table and his eyes fell to my lips. “The sound I make when I come.”
His nostrils flared as our eyes locked and his voice was hoarse, “Have no doubt, Sunshine. I’ll make you come so many times, I’ll have the sound of it memorized.”
My nipples hardened, my breasts swelled, and my skin flushed. Fingers tightening around the stem of my glass, I said, “Let’s cut out the Delaney Ball and take what we want from this.”
Henry reluctantly sat back. “Nice try.”
“Come on, Henry, we both know what this is.”
He raised his wine glass to his lips. “Do we?”
* * *
The sprawling stone mansion was lit up in the dark by spotlights above the many windows, and going in and out of the huge double front door entrance were elegant couples in formal wear that veered from shimmering to starkly traditional.
After smoothing a hand down my dress, I noted how my fingers trembled and clenched my fist to stop the involuntary movement.
“You look beautiful,” Henry said, caressing my waist as he led me inside with his arm around me. Since picking me up, he had showered me with compliments and then proceeded to stare at me heatedly the entire drive out to Weston.
There were a number of reasons I was so nervous walking into the Delaney Ball.
One, Henry had told me Caine and Alexa were going to be there and it was weird for me knowing I’d have to meet them and pretend I didn’t know anything about them, let alone two of their darkest secrets.
Two, the people I’d be mingling with were Boston’s elite. Although I’d met a few here and there, I’d never been to one of their events. I hated the idea of feeling like an outsider. Especially as I really was, considering Henry and I were extremely temporary.
Which brought me to the third reason I was nervous.
As soon as we’d gotten into the back of the Town Car, Henry had turned surprisingly serious.
“What’s wrong? Regretting the dates? Wishing you’d gone straight for the home run?” I teased.
“You have no idea how wrong you are.”
I squirmed under the intensity of his attention as he looked me straight in the eye. There was no sexual perusal of my body or cocky suggestiveness. “What do you want?” I huffed, feeling defensive for some reason.
“You,” he replied immediately. “For more than one night.”
My palms turned sweaty. “What?”
“I think it would be foolish not to explore what’s between us. No deadline, no fooling around, just you and me getting to know each other like normal couples get to know each other.”
“You don’t date,” I argued, feeling my cheeks flush.
What was happening here?
Henry’s expression turned tender. “For you, I want to.”
“What? No. What?” I shifted uncomfortably, breaking his implacable hold on my gaze. “That’s… no. You and me? No.” I looked back at him in outrage. “No.”
He smirked. “Why not?”
“Because…” I sputtered, trying to find the words. He had caught me so off guard. “It’s us. No. No!”
“I reserve the right to change your mind. I have all night to do so.”
I knew I was gaping at him like an unsophisticated middle grader, but I was in a state of shock. Henry Lexington didn’t date. He played around. And suddenly, for me, he wanted to give dating a try? I wasn’t buying it. Maybe he was under the illusion that there was something between us, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t get bored in no time at all, and I’d be the one having to pick up the pieces of my pride as well as my heart.
Uh… no thank you.
“I’ll let you think about it.” The bastard winked at me.
Butterflies had completely taken over my stomach as I tried to glide in my five-inch heels over the stone flooring in the Delaney’s home. It was hard to describe the austere beauty of the ballroom we were led into. It wasn’t as though I came across many homes that had an actual ballroom in it. The event was formally titled the Vanessa Van Hay Delaney Benefit for Alzheimer’s. It was hosted by Michelle and Edgar Delaney, the children of Vanessa Delaney, a woman who’d been a pillar of Boston society for over fifty years before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She passed away a few years after her diagnosis and ever since, every year, the Delaneys hosted their benefit to fund finding a cure. Only Boston’s very elite were invited to come share their philanthropy, and that included my date and his good friend Caine Carraway.
I was merely the curvy treat of the week for Lexington but I’d done my best to make sure I wouldn’t look out of place. Too much. Using my hard-earned savings, I’d bought a floor-length dress that hugged my upper body until it hit the top of my thighs and flowed out in layers of silk chiffon. It was the color of lapis lazuli, had wide straps over the shoulder, and a sweetheart neckline that screamed “This dress is all about the boobs!” With boobs like mine, it was very rare to find any piece of clothing that my boobs didn’t immediately take command of. So it was easier to just go with it and let ’em shine.
Henry had only faltered once and that was when I opened the door to my apartment. I’d had to clear my throat loudly to get his attention off my assets. But from then on, he’d been a total gentleman, making direct eye contact only.
“Henry.” A tall, lithe young woman laid a hand on my date’s arm. As she pressed her boobs against his side, she smiled flirtatiously, a smile Henry easily returned. “You look wonderful as always.” She trailed her fingers over his arm. I don’t think my presence even registered on her radar. “We missed you at Fee’s birthday bash last month.”
“I was traveling. Work. Sorry I missed it.”
Anger bubbled under my skin at the fact that Henry didn’t force any distance between him and the woman. Anger I had to cool when his hand on my back tightened and he drew me closer. “Lana, this is my date, Nadia Ray.”
Lana’s eyes reluctantly swept from Henry’s face to mine and she stepped back a little. “You look familiar.”
Henry grinned proudly at me. “Nadia is WCVB’s favorite broadcast meteorologist.”
It was clear from the downturn of her mouth that Lana was less than impressed. “How diverting. I could never be a weather girl. Those early mornings have such a negative effect on the complexion.”
I stiffened at the underhand insult but Henry laughed and patted Lana’s arm, “Oh, be honest, Lana, you couldn’t do the job because it would mean exerting yourself beyond the physicality of using Daddy’s credit card.”
I choked on my laughter as Henry guided me away from the socialite, her jaw almost to the ground. “I can’t believe you said that.”
Henry shrugged. “I hate cattiness.”
“You slept with her, didn’t you?” I covered my displeasure with a teasing smile.
“Once,” he answered honestly. “It didn’t mean anything.”
To you it never does.
And there was the rub. I didn’t believe Henry when he said he wanted more from me, more nights, more dates… because he was saying that before we’d even had sex. I knew… as soon as he’d had me, he’d walk out that door and I’d never see him again. There was absolutely no way I’d make myself any more vulnerable to the man than I already had.
“It means something to her. That’s why she was rude to me.”
Henry stopped from nodding at acquaintances as we passed through the mingling crowds to face me. “I don’t want to talk about her. Or my past. I can’t change it. But I can take charge of my future.”
I shivered under the heated determination in his eyes, of the intent behind his words. “Champagne?” I squeaked out.
Laughing, he glanced around the room, perhaps searching for the alcohol, when his grin widened. “Caine’s arrived with Alexa.”
As Henry led me toward them, I tried to gain control of my nerves. I hated the fact that I had to lie to these people. Nearing the couple, I didn’t know which one to look at first; they were so striking together. Caine was even more good-looking in real life than I could have imagined, but there was a cool hardness to his masculine gorgeousness. Alexa had a fresh-faced beauty with her high apple cheekbones, thick dark hair, and vivid blue-green eyes. She was tall with a slender figure encased in a stunning pale green and silver Jenny Packham dress. The dress’s silhouette would have looked ridiculous on all of my exaggerated curves. Envy niggled at me. I’d never be able to pull off that kind of elegance.
“Alexa, looking more beautiful than ever,” Henry said.
“Henry,” she murmured, leaning into him with familiarity and affection as she kissed his cheek.
I stared at where he rested his hand on her waist a little too long and when I glanced over at Caine, I saw he was displeased by the embrace.
Jealousy pricked me for about a second until Henry caught Caine’s scowl and rolled his eyes at him, taking a step back from Alexa. Something about Henry’s amusement put me at ease. And then I saw the way Alexa turned to Carraway and stared up at his face, and I knew there was no reason to be jealous of her and Henry. I wondered if she knew her heart was in her eyes when she stared at her boss.
Interesting.
Henry nudged me forward. “Caine, Lexie, this is Nadia Ray. She’s a local weather girl.”
I tried not to read into the fact that he’d referred to my job title correctly with Lana earlier but called me a weather girl to his friends. I hoped it was just a slip and not an intentional attempt to rile me.
Recognition lit Alexa’s eyes and unlike Lana, she did look impressed. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, and sounded like she meant it.
I grinned back tremulously, still unsure of how to act when I knew too much about her—more than I’m sure she’d be comfortable with me knowing.
Caine gave me a clipped nod that only made my nerves worse.
The man was intimidating without even trying.
“This place is insane, right?” Alexa said, bugging her eyes out as if to say, “What the hell do we do here?”
Relief at finding someone who felt like an outsider too made me laugh. “It’s not what I’m used to.”
“I hear you.” She nodded, scanning the room. “But the mini crab rolls at these things are usually to die for.”
“Nowhere near as good as the crab rolls we used to get at this little deli on campus at Wharton.” Henry closed his eyes in exaggerated pleasure. “Oh, those were the days.”
I chuckled because I equated good memories with good food too. Alexa smirked. “Crab rolls. That’s what you remember most about business school?”
“I didn’t say that.” His eyes popped open as he grinned. “The women were also very memorable.”
I refused to react because there was something about the way he deliberately didn’t look at me when he said it that suggested it was for my benefit. Was he trying to make me jealous? Did he want a reaction? What kind of game was he playing with me now?
Despite the jealousy I did feel, jealousy that told me I should not be here or even contemplating letting this man anywhere near my bed, I pretended indifference to spite him.
“Oh, so it was the crabs you remember most?” Alexa cracked and I burst out laughing.
I had a feeling I was going to like this woman.
“I wasn’t that bad.” Henry snorted. “Okay… I was almost that bad.”
“How did you put up with him? Or were you even worse than he was?” she asked Caine.
Caine didn’t join in on her teasing. He was so cold and standoffish, I was suddenly glad I hadn’t gone to him with what I’d found.
Alexa didn’t seem bothered by his attitude at all. She huffed in exasperation. “Caine never talks about Wharton. It’s like he’s wiped it from existence.”
Henry sobered as he and Caine shared a dark look; I shifted with unease. Oops. That’s why Caine was looking so uncomfortable. The topic of business school. Right. Prostituting himself through school wasn’t exactly something he wanted everyone to know about.
“We’ll get you a crab roll in a minute,” Caine suddenly said. “First we have to go over and say hello to the Delaneys.” And without another word, he guided Alexa away from us.
She shot us an apologetic look over her shoulder.
“Well… that was… uncomfortable.”
My date’s demeanor changed so swiftly, he reminded me of the man I’d met weeks ago in my apartment. “She doesn’t know and she’ll never know. Understood?”
“I’ve already told you I have no intention of telling anyone.”
“Good.” He grabbed my hand and wrapped it around his arm. “Make sure it stays that way.”
Bitterness reared its ugly head. “From the man who says he wants to date me.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means there’s no point in dating someone you don’t trust.”
“I trust you,” he said. Taking in my disbelief, he wrapped his hand over mine, his expression softening. “Nadia, I trust you. That was… that was a stupid thing to say to you. I… I’m uncomfortable with the fact that Caine doesn’t know that you know. I apologize.”
And there he went, switching to the gentleman. You would think I’d relax but his ability to be these two different people unsettled me. Reluctantly, I muttered, “Accepted.”
His eyes swept over my face, his features tightening. “Do you know how much I want you?”
“You’ve mentioned it once or twice.” I turned away, not quite ready to return to that flirty place with him.
“I said I was sorry.”
“I know.” I eyed him now, trying to work this man out. I knew people were complicated—we all had good and bad in us. I couldn’t work out how much of Henry was a good guy, and it bothered me more than it should considering I was only supposed to have sex with him once and be done with him.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“No problem.” I bit my lip as we studied each other. His unrelenting gaze made me sigh. “Okay… You’re so unbelievably charming.”
“That’s a problem?”
“I bet nearly all the people in this room would be shocked to their core to learn that you have a side capable of pinning a man to wall, threatening violence, and getting him fired less than twenty-four hours later.”
Understanding lightened his eyes. “And you’d be right.” He shot me a wry smirk. He glanced around the room and turned back to me. “Caine and I get things done. But we choose a different path to the same destination. He comes off cold, he’s intense, sometimes ruthless, and people fear him to the point where they don’t want to piss him off—they want to be his ally. I, on the other hand, am all lightheartedness and effortless charm. People see a blueblood who got where he is because of his father. Most of them don’t take me seriously.” He grinned and it was hard and wolfish. “They underestimate me to their own detriment.”
His words caused me no small measure of uneasiness. They were in fact a reminder that Henry Lexington was a complicated man with more than one face. He could charm me effortlessly and then rip my heart out the next day. “Well, don’t worry, Mr. Lexington. I for one won’t underestimate you.”
He immediately frowned and stepped into my personal space, crowding me. Henry searched my eyes, his expression unhappy. “You say that like you expect me to hurt you. I won’t. I won’t hurt you, Nadia.”
I gave him a cool smile. “No, you won’t.”
Determination hardened his eyes. “This is happening between us and it’s real.”
I traced my finger down the lapel of his tuxedo and made a snake over his heart. “All that’s going to happen between you and me is this… you’ll take me home, I’ll invite you into my apartment, and then I’ll invite you inside me. We’ll have fun. You’ll leave. And I won’t see you again. Understood?”
Desire darkened his eyes as they fell to my lips. “I see we’re doing this the hard way.”
“I hope so.”
He grinned at my innuendo. “Fuck, I like you.”
“Henry, good to see you.” We were suddenly interrupted by an older couple.
The smoldering in Henry’s eyes disappeared as he turned to them and slipped easily into the charmer these people knew and loved.
* * *
For the most part the people Henry introduced me to were friendly and inquisitive about my job, some of them knowing a lot more about meteorology broadcasting than I expected. But of course, we were surrounded by wealthy business people, smart people, and as much as some of them underestimated me, I’d probably underestimated and prejudged them too.
To my discomfort, I’d also underestimated Henry’s flirtatious nature. Old, young, somewhere in between, if it was female, Henry went out of his way to make her feel like she was special. I don’t think he even knew he did it—it was a natural part of who he was.
And as I watched him, I began to doubt every moment we’d spent together over the last week. Because the truth was, as much as I hated to admit it, Henry had made me feel special, interesting, intriguing, wanted. But he made every woman feel like that. It was a nice quality to have… but not exactly one that gave me much faith in his so-called feelings for me.
We were talking to an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Winston, when a petite beauty with masses of dark curls and huge dark eyes approached. She’d eyed me with distaste and then was overly fake friendly when Henry introduced us. She then insisted he come with her to sort out an argument with some person whose name escaped me. Despite what I thought was her obvious cattiness, Henry went, leaving me for the first time. I think he felt okay to do so because I was explaining my job to Mrs. Winston who seemed genuinely fascinated.
Five minutes later, he still hadn’t returned and Mr. and Mrs. Winston had been distracted by an acquaintance.
I stood on the outskirts of the room, alone, confused, and wishing to God that I was home in my apartment watching a good movie.
“You look like you need this.” Alexa approached on her own and offered me a glass of champagne.
Gratitude swept over me in such magnitude, I almost felt teary. I was miserable. I didn’t know if I was miserable being at the party, or if I was miserable because of Henry, or how Henry made me feel. I didn’t know. I was a mess.
I hid that mess behind a grateful smile. “Thank you. Henry was pulled away by some catty society girl and there really was no polite way for him to get out of it.” I don’t know why I said that. Maybe because I had hoped that’s why he’d left me on my own. I almost flinched at how needy I was being. This so was not me.
“Henry’s a catch around these parts.” Alexa smiled sympathetically. “The women who have grown up in his circle think of him as theirs.”
“I’m getting that.” They can have him! I thought bravely, hoping that if I told myself I felt nothing for him, the feeling might actually take hold.
“Honestly, I think they bore him.” She seemed to want to reassure me.
“Well, I’m from Beacon Falls, Connecticut, which is a slightly different crowd of people. Definitely not boring.” Nope. Boring we were not. Or at least… I wasn’t boring. Not that my kind of boring was a good thing. I didn’t want Henry to know how not boring I could be. The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“I’m from Chester,” Alexa exclaimed.
Unease pricked at me and I covered it with a chuckle. “No way. We grew up, like, what? An hour from one another?”
“It’s a small world.”
Yes, it was. Hopefully not too small for her to have heard anything about me. I shrugged off that concern, knowing even if she did know the story, it would have a different name attached to it.
Despite how I was feeling, Alexa was so easy to talk to that I found myself relaxing into her company. We talked about growing up in Connecticut, about college (not a lot because I didn’t want to give anything away inadvertently), about Boston, and how I’d recently done the tourist thing. She told me about her favorite places around the city and I could see our tastes were similar. I enjoyed the fact that she didn’t ask me about Henry, and because I already knew more about her and her boss than I wanted to, I didn’t ask her about Caine.
We clicked, and in the back of my mind, I was already cursing Henry for introducing me to her, knowing that our friendship wouldn’t last given he and I were ending this thing between us.
But maybe, somehow, I could still stay in contact with Alexa. She was the first person in Boston, other than Joe, who made me feel like myself.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, ladies.” Henry appeared and gently tugged me toward him. I wanted to resist, considering how long he’d left me alone, but that conflicted with the fact that I was glad he had because it meant I got to spend time with Alexa. “My father is finally free from the bigwigs and I want to introduce you to him.”
What the fuck?
His father?
Was here?
And he wanted to introduce me to him? No way. That was not in the plan!
“Your father?” I shot Alexa a pleading look even though I knew there was very little she could do. “Why are you introducing me to your father?” I hissed as he propelled me through the crowded ballroom.
“Because I want him to meet you.”
I ignored his obvious amusement. “You’re trying to torture me.”
“Actually, I merely want you to meet my father. I like him a lot and I like you a lot. It makes sense to introduce you.”
“You’re being pushy and obnoxious.” My stomach twisted with nerves. “Really, Henry, I don’t want to—”
“Father.” Henry stopped in front of two men, and I was forced to shut up.
“Henry…” The taller and older of the two men turned to us, his eyes flicking from his son to me. I’d seen Randall Lexington in the paper and already knew Henry got his good looks from his father. As trim as he must have been in youth, Lexington filled out his tuxedo as well as any man half his age. He had light gray eyes, not blue like Henry’s, but they had the same smooth handsomeness. When he smiled at me, it was Henry’s boyish, charming smile, and for some stupid reason, it made me relax a little.
“Nadia, this is my father Randall, and my colleague Iain Prendergast.”
I stuck out my hand to his father, “Nice to meet you,” and then to Iain.
“Nice to meet you, Nadia.” Iain gave me a polite smile. “Henry, Mr. Lexington.” He nodded at father and son and then left us to it.
“Miss Ray.” Randall reached for my hand again, clasping it between both of his. His expression was warm and curious. “I’ve seen you on television. You light up the screen. I’ve never met a broadcast meteorologist before.”
I was immediately charmed—he got my job title correct!
“Thank you. I love my job.”
Randall let go of my hand and smirked at his son. “It only took you twenty-odd years to bring an interesting date to one of these things.”
I laughed as Henry chuckled. “You’ve just insulted half the women in this room.”
His dad shrugged. “Whoops.”
Having not been what I expected at all, I found myself relaxing even more. “Henry told me he had to work his way up in your company rather than going straight in at the top. I have to say I admire your decision to do that.”
“Were you complaining again, son?”
“I’ll never forgive you for the hardship.”
I studied father and son as they teased each other, and liked what I saw.
“So, Miss Ray—”
“Please, call me Nadia.”
“Nadia,” his eyes searched my face, “a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”
“Hey now.” Henry slid his arm around my waist and pulled me into his side. “Watch it. For all I know, my date has a thing for older men.”
I tensed at the joke, immediately regretting it when Henry shot me a puzzled look. Forcing myself to relax, I smiled lamely.
“As I was saying,” Randall smoothed over the moment, “Nadia, tell me, are you dying to get out of here as much as I am?”
There was no hiding my surprise at the question. Randall Lexington was Boston society. “What?”
Henry squeezed my waist. “My father hates these things. He only comes for the business opportunities and because my mother loves them.”
“We could be doing better things with our time than standing around sipping champagne and gossiping,” he said. I heard the tired derision in Randall’s voice.
“This is a charity benefit.”
“So let me write a check. Don’t make me put on a damn penguin suit and stand in a ballroom having to converse with people, half of whom don’t have an original thought between them.”
I choked on a snort.
Seriously. I loved him.
Randall grinned at the noise. “I have a feeling Miss Ray shares my sentiments. Well, unlucky for you if you stick around with my son, you’ll be subjected to more of this. It comes with the territory.”
“I don’t mind this stuff as much,” Henry said.
“Now you don’t. Give it twenty years. So… do you like it?” Randall asked me directly.
I sighed. “It’s really only my first society event.”
“But?”
“I feel like a fish out of water,” I answered honestly.
Henry’s grip on me tightened. “Why?”
My answer seemed to have disturbed him.
“Uh, kids, maybe take that conversation elsewhere…” Randall stared over my shoulder, “Your mother is headed this way.”
Without even a goodbye, Henry took hold of my hand and dragged me in the opposite direction. “What is going on?”
He didn’t answer me until we were on the other side of the ballroom with hundreds of couples between us and his father. Henry grabbed two glasses of champagne, handed one to me, and downed the other.
“Explain.”
“You first.” He crowded me against a window alcove, hiding me from the rest of the room. His hand rested on my hip possessively as he stared down into my face, looking as serious as he had in the Town Car earlier. “You feel like a fish out of water here?”
“Honestly, yes.”
“Why?”
I cocked my head, studying him. Why did he care? “Why does it bother you if I do?”
“Because I have to attend these events. I hate to think of dragging you along to things you’re not enjoying.”
“There you go being all presumptuous again.”
“I introduced you to my father, Nadia. I don’t normally do that.”
I scoffed. “So I should feel honored?”
“Don’t do that.” He leaned into me, pressing his body along mine. He stroked my chin and gripped it gently to tilt my head back. “Don’t be cynical and distant. I don’t like it. It’s not you.”
“You don’t know who I am,” I whispered, aroused by his proximity despite the mess of my emotions.
“No?” He bent down, his lips brushing mine. “Then tell me who you are.”
I licked my lips deliberately so my tongue flicked against his mouth, and his eyes smoldered. “I’m the girl,” I kissed him on the corner of his mouth, “wondering why a guy would introduce me to his father, but run like a bat out of hell from introducing me to his mother.”
“His mother is wondering that also,” a cool, feminine voice said behind him.
Henry froze. “Fuck,” he muttered.
“I heard that.”
For some reason, Henry looked pained as he pulled back from me. And apologetic. He gripped my hand in his and turned to face a petite woman who appeared younger than her years. A woman whose wealth meant life had been kind to her skin.
“Mother.” Henry leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek without letting go of my hand.
Penelope Lexington had diamonds in her ears, around her throat, and around her wrist. In contrast to all the bling, her dress was black and simple. Henry had her lovely blue eyes.
She looked amazing for a woman who was mother to a thirty-something-year-old.
Her full lips, however, were pinched with displeasure as she stared at me.
“Nadia, this is my mother, Penelope.”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lexington.” I held out a hand to her, despite her chilly stare.
To my horror she stared at my hand like it was a bug. I dropped it, shocked at her rudeness.
“Mother, Jesus Christ,” Henry snapped quietly.
“Don’t you curse at me,” Penelope huffed and then narrowed her eyes on me. “I can see what a marvelous influence the weather girl is already being on you.”
I stiffened at her derision.
“Not. Here,” Henry bit out.
“Not here?” She stepped closer to us and I glanced around the room. Mostly everyone was completely unaware of the tension happening among the three of us, but a group of young women to our right caught my eye. They were watching with glee.
“You’re being rude.”
“I’m being rude? You were supposed to attend the event with Portia Windsor. Instead you dumped her for a weather girl.”
“Broadcast meteorologist.” I threw my shoulders back, eyeing her in defiance.
Her upper lip curled. “Dress it up anyway you want, sweetheart, you’re an overweight nobody whose breasts got her some attention. I know you. I know you better than you know yourself. And what I’m sure we can agree on is that you’re not good enough for my son. I want you to leave.”
“I can’t believe you just said that.” Henry stared at her in angry disbelief, two bright flags of red on the upper crests of his cheeks.
“I’m happy to leave.” I stared through her for a moment, hoping to make her flinch. However, she was cold as stone. As I moved to pass her, anger and fear that she was right mixed together. Maybe she was right. But how she’d treated me—humiliated me—was unforgiveable. I stopped by her side and stared down into her haughty expression. “I guess the saying is correct after all.”
She raised a perfect eyebrow at me.
“Money really can’t buy class.”
Hot temper lit up her eyes but I walked away with my head held high.
I was halfway across the ballroom, which seemed to have tripled in size, when he fell into step beside me.
His hand rested on my lower back as he guided me out.
Neither of us said a word.
Not while we waited for the Town Car to arrive. And not while we sat in the Town Car.
Inside I was screaming. How she’d treated me reminded me of a time I’d like to forget. But I didn’t feel like a victim.
I didn’t feel angry at Penelope Lexington, who’s attitude, unfortunately, was a product of the society she kept and being trapped in a time warp.
I was angry at myself because it was my own past actions that made me have such a low opinion of myself. A low enough opinion for me to believe Penelope Lexington was probably right. Joe was right. Being with Henry was taking me back to that bad place again.
Because who was I to have judged Henry all night? To stand there in my too-high heels and weigh whether he was a villain or a hero? If he was good enough for me?
I acted like my story deserved a hero.
But only a heroine deserves a hero.
And I wasn’t a heroine. I couldn’t be.
The truth was in someone else’s story…
I was a villain.